System and process for distribution of information on a communication network

ABSTRACT

A communications system includes a plurality of recipient processors located at geographically remote locations with respect to each other and connected for communication with an information provider processor, over the communications network. The provider and recipient processors may comprise respective computers coupled for communication on the Internet or WWW. The provider processor is capable of providing information form any suitable source, by communicating such information over a communications network. However, access to the information by the recipient processors is controlled, based on the geographic location or region of the recipient processors. Each recipient processor is operably associated with a positioning system for providing geographic location information corresponding to the location or region in which the positioning system is located, such as a global positioning system GPS. The geographic position information is used to determine whether or not the processor requesting the information is within a restricted (or limited) or non-restricted region. This determination may be made comparing the geographic information provided by the recipient processor and positioning system with a list of non-restricted or non-limited (or a list of restricted or limited) geographic locations or regions.

RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present invention relates to U.S. Provisional Application60/191,003, filed Mar. 21, 2000, which is incorporated herein byreference and from which priority is claimed. The present invention alsorelates to U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,172, issued Nov. 28, 2000 and PCTApplication No. PCT/US99/06943, filed Mar. 30, 1999, each of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates, generally, to a system, processand article of manufacture for distribution of information on acommunications network and, in preferred embodiments, to such a system,process and article for distribution of information on the Internet orWorld Wide Web, based on the geographic location of the internet or webuser requesting the information and/or the geographic location of theinformation provider.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have opened vast new globalmarketplaces and opportunities for companies, organizations,institutions and individuals to distribute and obtain information and tointeract verbally and visually with others, virtually on a world-widebasis. By employing the Internet and WWW, companies and groups of allsizes and individuals may have, in effect, a world-wide market in whichto distribute information, products and services using the Internet orWWW (including, but not limited to, programs, movies, photographs, andother information that can be transmitted over the Internet or WWW).

[0004] However, such a geographically expansive marketplace can beproblematic for contexts in which the information, products or servicesare intended for a particular geographic area or location. Typical website operators have no control over or knowledge of the geographic areaor location of a user accessing the web site and, thus, no control overthe area or location at which its web site content may be read, viewedor otherwise downloaded. Similarly, typical Internet or web users haveno control over or knowledge of the geographic area or location of theweb site's operator server from which the web site content is read,viewed or otherwise downloaded.

[0005] Consider, for example, a company or individual involved in thebusiness of selling a product or service, but which is constrained understatute or contract to a limited geographic sales region. In onerepresentative example, a software company contracts with varioussoftware distribution companies to sell its software in specified salesregions, wherein each distributor is provided a sales region and, underthe terms of the contract, is not allowed to sell the software outsideof the region. A distribution company may desire to employ the Internetor WWW as a distribution channel, but would need to limit sales (andaccess to the distributed software) to only those Internet users(customers) that are located within the region assigned to that company.

[0006] As another example, consider a company or individual in thebusiness of providing a lottery or other game in which a fee is requiredto play and the player is provided with a chance to win money or prizes.Under many legal jurisdictions (which can also be defined in terms ofgeographic areas), such lotteries and games may be illegal or otherwiselimited by gambling statutes, rules or regulations. Again, the companyor individual may desire to offer the lottery or game service over theInternet or WWW, but also avoid potential legal liability for offeringsuch services to Internet users that are located in a geographic regionof an adverse legal jurisdiction.

[0007] As yet another example, consider a company, organization orindividual involved in distributing information having a content that ispolitically or ethically sensitive in certain geographic regions, butnot other geographic regions. Again, the company, organization orindividual may desire to provide the information over the Internet but,for political, ethical or legal reasons, may also desire to limit theaccessibility to the information to certain geographic regions.

[0008] Thus, in a number of contexts, there is a need in the industryfor a system by which a provider of a service or product on the Internetmay readily limit access to the product or service, based on thegeographic region in which the user requesting the product or service islocated.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, processand article of manufacture for limiting the distribution of informationon a communications network based on geographic location. In preferredembodiments, the invention relates to such a system, process and articlefor limiting distribution of information on the Internet and World WideWeb (WWW), based on the geographic location of the Internet userrequesting the information.

[0010] A system according to a general embodiment of the presentinvention includes at least one information provider processor which iscoupled to a plurality of recipient processors on a communicationsnetwork. The recipient processors are located at geographically remotelocations with respect to each other and connected forintercommunication with the provider processor, over the communicationsnetwork. In preferred embodiments, the provider and recipient processorscomprise respective computers coupled for communication on the Internet.

[0011] The provider processor is capable of providing information fromany suitable source, by communicating such information over acommunications network. However, access to the information by therecipient processors is controlled, based on the geographic location orregion of the recipient processors.

[0012] Each recipient processor operates with an associated a means forproviding a position signal. Various embodiments of the invention mayemploy any suitable means which provides a computer readable signal thatcorresponds to the position, or geographic location, of the recipientprocessors, including, but not limited to, devices for generatingpre-recorded geographic information and user-operated input devices.However, in preferred embodiments, the geographic location informationis generated by a means which calculates the location from informationreceived at the location from satellite signals, such as a globalpositioning system GPS.

[0013] The geographic position information is used to determine whetheror not the processor requesting the information is within a restricted(or limited) or nonrestricted region. This determination may be made byany suitable procedure, including, but not limited to, comparing thegeographic information provided by the recipient processor andpositioning system with a list of non-restricted or non-limited (orrestricted) geographic locations or regions. Thus, according to someembodiments, information may be provided or not provided (access to theinformation may be allowed or denied) dependent on the geographicinformation provided by the recipient processor, such that, if arecipient processor provides geographic information corresponding to arestricted geographic location or region, then the provider processorwill be controlled to not provide selective information to the recipientprocessor. On the other hand, if a recipient processor providesgeographic information corresponding to a non-restricted geographiclocation or region, then the provider processor is controlled to providethe selective information to the recipient computer.

[0014] In further embodiments, a set of rules may be implemented,depending upon the geographic information (and, thus, the geographiclocation or region) such that various restrictions or limitations may beimplemented for various geographic locations or regions. Thus, if arecipient processor provides geographic information corresponding to afirst geographic location or region, then the provider processor may becontrolled to not provide selective information to the recipientprocessor, unless firther criteria is met. For example, such furthercriteria may include, but is not limited to, a minimum user age, aparticular period of the day, week, month or year, or other suitablecriteria. Other geographic locations or regions may be associated withsimilar or other limitations or restrictions to the access ofinformation from the provider processor.

[0015] In this manner, the distribution of information on acommunications network may be controlled, based on geographic locationof the recipient of the information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] A brief description of preferred embodiments of the inventionwill be made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0017]FIG. 1 is a generalized schematic view of a wide area networksystem, which may be used to implement embodiments of the presentinvention.

[0018]FIG. 2 is a generalized schematic view of a system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

[0019]FIG. 3 is a flow chart representing a process carried out by thesystem of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020]FIG. 4a is a block diagram representing a communication packetprovided by a user computer of the system shown in FIG. 1, according toan embodiment of the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 4b is a block diagram representing communication packetsprovided by a user computer and the provider computer of the systemshown in FIG. 1, according to a further embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0022]FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing an example embodiment of aprocess carried out by a user computer of the system shown in FIG. 1.

[0023]FIG. 6 is a flow chart representing an example embodiment of aprocess carried out by the provider computer of the system shown in FIG.1.

[0024]FIG. 7 is a generalized block diagram of a decryption modulesystem.

[0025]FIG. 8 is a flow chart representing another example embodiment ofa process carried out by a user computer.

[0026]FIG. 9 is a flow chart representing another example embodiment ofa process carried out by a provider computer.

[0027]FIG. 10 is a generalized representation of a shopping area whichemploys a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028]FIG. 11 is a generalized block diagram of a system forassociateing content and recipient information in a memory.

[0029]FIG. 12 is a generalized block diagram of a system for associatingimage information with location information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] The following detailed description is of the best presentlycontemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is notto be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose ofillustrating the general principles of the invention. The scope of theinvention is best defined by the appended claims.

[0031] As summarized above, the present invention relates, generally, toa system, process and article of manufacture for limiting thedistribution of information on a communications network based ongeographic location and, in preferred embodiments, to such a system,process and article for limiting distribution of information on theInternet or WWW, based on the geographic location of the Internet userrequesting the information.

[0032]FIG. 1 represents a general embodiment and can also represent aspecific Internet embodiment of the present invention, as describedbelow. With reference to FIG., 1, a system 10 is shown according to ageneral embodiment of the present invention, wherein an informationproviding processor (provider processor 12) is coupled for communicationto a plurality of recipient processors 14-16 located at mutuallydifferent geographic locations with respect to each other, by acommunications network 18. The processors may comprise any suitable dataprocessing and communicating device controlled, preferably by a softwareprogram, to operate as described below. The communications network maycomprise any suitable means which allows the recipient processors andthe provider processor to communicate with each other, including, butnot limited to, the Internet or WWW, intranet, cable or other hard-wirednetworks, optical, electromagnetic or other wireless networks, as wellas hybrids thereof, or the like.

[0033] The provider processor 12 is capable of providing informationfrom any suitable source (including, but not limited to an on-linesource or a computer readable storage medium such as a hard or floppydisk, random access memory RAM, read only memory ROM, compact disk (CD),other optical storage disk, such as a DVD, or the like), bycommunicating such information over a communications network 18. Inaddition, or alternatively, the provider processor 12 may provideinformation by directing a recipient to a further site on the network18, for example, by providing the recipient with a site locator, such asa uniform resource locator (URL) for a network site at which theprovided information is available. Such information may include, but isnot limited to, data, text or image information including softwareprograms, for example, having different market, legal, political,social, ethical or moral implications in different geographic regions.In preferred embodiments of the present invention, access to theinformation by the recipient processors 14-16 is controlled, based onthe geographic location or region of the recipient processors, theprovider processor or both.

[0034] Distribution Based On Location Of Recipient

[0035] In accordance with one aspect of the invention, information isaccessed or distributed based on the geographic location of therecipient processor (recipientlocation based system). In suchembodiments, the recipient processors comprise online user terminals,including, but not limited to conventional personal computers (PCs),portable communication devices (such as portable telephones, personaldigital assistants, or other portable information units), orvehicle-mounted computers connected to a wide area network, such as, butnot limited to, the Internet. However, in further embodiments, therecipient processor may comprise other types of processing or computingsystems, such as dedicated processor system, set top boxes, mainframesystems or workstations.

[0036] An example recipient-location based system is shown in FIG. 2. Inthe FIG. 2 example, each recipient processor 14-16 operates with anassociated means 20-22 for providing a position signal. Variousembodiments of the invention may employ any suitable means whichprovides a computer readable signal corresponding to the position, orgeographic location or region, of the recipient processors, including,but not limited to, devices for generating pre-recorded geographicinformation, or user-operated input devices operated by a user to inputinformation corresponding to a geographic location or region (forexample, a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone, display icons that areselected by positioning a mouse curser and clicking the mouse, or thelike). However, in preferred embodiments, the geographic locationinformation is generated by a means which calculates the location frominformation received at the location from satellite signals, such as aglobal positioning system GPS.

[0037] For example, GPS circuitry may be included as part of thecircuitry of the recipient processor system or included in a circuitcard that may be installed in a recipient processor system.Alternatively, GPS circuitry may be included in a module connectable tothe recipient processor system from a location external to the housingcontaining the recipient processor.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment, the GPS is implemented with circuitrycontained in a portable device that can be easily connected anddisconnected by a user to a recipient processor or to a reading deviceassociated with recipient processor. For example, the GPS circuitry maybe contained in a plug-in connector such as a dongle, an electronicallyreadable card, an electronically readable token or the like. In suchembodiments, the recipient processor includes a suitable receptacle,such as a serial or parallel port for connecting to a plug-in module ora card or token reader for receiving electronic information from a cardor token. In another example, the GPS circuitry is contained in aportion of a disc or similar structure shaped to be inserted in astandard disc reading device, such as a floppy disc drive, compact discdrive, optical disc drive, magneto-optical disc drive or the like,wherein other portions of the disc structure define computer readablemedia containing programs and/or data for controlling the recipientprocessor to carry out functions described herein.

[0039] Geographic location information obtained from the GPS, or fromother means for providing a position signal, is used to determinewhether or not the processor requesting the information is within arestricted (or limited) or non-restricted region. This determination maybe made by any suitable procedure, including, but not limited to,comparing the geographic information provided by the recipient processorand positioning system with a list of non-restricted or non-limited (orrestricted) geographic locations or regions. Thus, according to someembodiments, information may be provided or not provided (that is,access to the information may be allowed or denied) dependent on thegeographic information provided by the recipient processor, such that,if a recipient processor provides geographic information correspondingto a restricted geographic location or region, then the providerprocessor will be controlled to not provide selective information to therecipient processor. On the other hand, if a recipient processorprovides geographic information corresponding to a non-restrictedgeographic location or region, then the provider processor is controlledto provide the selective information to the recipient computer.

[0040] In further embodiments, a set of rules may be implemented, whichdepend upon the geographic information (and, thus, the geographiclocation or region of the recipient processor), such that variousrestrictions or limitations may be implemented for various geographiclocations or regions. Thus, if a recipient processor provides geographicinformation corresponding to a first geographic location or region, thenthe provider processor may be controlled to not provide selectiveinformation to the recipient processor, unless further requirements aremet. Other geographic locations or regions may be associated withsimilar or other requirements, limitations or restrictions to the accessof information from the provider processor.

[0041] While embodiments of the invention may be applicable in a varietyof network contexts, in which a network of processors in mutuallydifferent geographic locations are coupled through a communicationsnetwork to a provider processor, preferred embodiments relate toInternet or WWW contexts, in which a provider computer and a pluralityof user computers are coupled for communication, through the Internet.

[0042] For example, FIG. 1 may be considered a generalizedrepresentation of an Internet or WWW embodiment, wherein the providerserver 12 comprises an Internet product or service provider computer orserver (hereinafter referred to as the provider server) coupled forcommunication, through the Internet 18, to a plurality of networkenableduser devices (such as those described above as recipient processors).The plurality of user devices includes a first user device 14 at alocation within a first geographic region X and a second user device 15at a location within a second geographic region Y, remote from the firstregion X. Any suitable number of user devices at mutually differentgeographic locations and/or regions may be connected through theInternet 18, as represented by the Nth user device 22. The user devicesmay be coupled in communication with the provider server 12simultaneously or during mutually different periods of time. Asdescribed above, the user devices 14-16 and provider device (or server)12 may each comprise any suitable computer or processor device havingmeans for interfacing with and communicating on a communications networkand for operating, preferably under the control of software programs, inthe manner described below. Such computers and communication interfacingare well known in the art and are not described in further detail hereinfor purposes of simplifying the present disclosure.

[0043] In the FIG. 2 embodiment, each user device 14-16 is operativelycoupled to an associated means 20-22 for providing a position signal toits associated user computer, indicative of the location or region inwhich the means is located. As discussed above, in some embodiments,such means may include a user input device associated with a given userdevice 14-16 (including, but not limited to a keyboard, touch-screen,microphone, display icons that are selected by positioning a mousecursor and clicking the mouse, or the like) which is operated by theuser to input information associated with the user's location or region.For example, such information might include, but is not limited to, theuser's zip code, street address, city, state, country, or the like.Alternatively, the means for providing position information may comprisea machine-readable storage media (including, but not limited to, a harddisk, floppy disk, optical or magneto-optical disk, or the like) onwhich position information is pre-stored and selectively retrieved by orprovided to its associated user device. Thus, for example, softwareassociated with the user device or the provider device may operate toprovide a prompt to the user to enter position information through theuser input device or provide a command to the user's device to retrievesuch information from its pre-stored location, as needed.

[0044] However, in preferred embodiments, the means 20-22 associatedwith each user device 14-16, for providing position information to itsassociated user device, comprises a means which is capable of generatingposition information from signals and/or information obtained by themeans in its location environment, including, but not limited tosatellite signals received in its location environment. In preferredembodiments, each position information providing means comprises asatellite-signal positioning system, for example, a Global PositioningSystem GPS 20-22. More specifically, each positioning system 20-22includes a receiver which receives satellite signals from one or moresatellites 24 in orbit about the Earth and processes information derivedfrom those signals to produce further information regarding thegeographic location of the positioning system.

[0045] Therefore, the positioning system 20 produces informationregarding its geographic location. Similarly, the positioning system 22produces information regarding its geographic location, which isdifferent than that of positioning system 20. In accordance with modemGPS technology, such geographic information may, for example, correspondto a pre-established global coordinate system such as, but not limitedto, Latitude and Longitude (Lat/Long), Universal Transverse Mercator(UTM), Ordinance Survey of Great Britain (OSGB), Universal PolarStereographic (UPS), Thomas Brother's Page and GridTm, Trimble Atlas™,or the like.

[0046] In preferred embodiments, the positioning systems 20-22 arecoupled in close proximity to their respective associated user device14-16 (or at least to a video monitor coupled to the associatedcomputer), such that each positioning system and its respectiveassociated user device (or computer monitor) are located in the samegeographic region. Thus, in FIG. 2, the positioning system 20 is at alocation within the same geographic region X as a user device 14.Similarly, the positioning system 21 is at a location within the samegeographic region Y as a user device 15.

[0047] In preferred embodiments, the positioning systems are internalpositioning systems, in that they are incorporated within the samehousing that also contains their respective associated computer, asshown with respect to positioning system 20 and user device 14. In otherpreferred embodiments, the positioning systems are located in a housingexternal to the associated user's computer (or device) housing, butstill within the proximity of the associated computer (or device)housing (or display monitor), as shown with respect to positioningsystem 21 and user device 15. Thus, a user device 15 located within anenclosed area, such as inside of a building or structure through whichsatellite signals may be difficult to receive, may be coupled to asatellite positioning system device (GPS device) 21 located in anexternal housing. In this manner, the external housing may be located ina convenient location suitably near the associated user device, but alsosuitable for receiving satellite signal transmissions, for example, nearor outside of a window of the office in which the user's computer (orother user device) is located, or on the roof of the building in whichthe user's computer (or other user device) is located, or othersignal-receiving locations within a suitable vicinity of the associatedcomputer (or other user device). The external positioning system device21 may be coupled to its associated user device 15 by any suitablecoupling means, including, but not limited to wire, optical, radiofrequency RF, electromagnetic or other suitable communication link.

[0048] Further, preferred embodiments may employ one or more computerswith internal positioning systems and one or more computers withexternal positioning systems, as shown in FIG. 2. Because of the closeproximity of each positioning system to its associated user device (ordisplay monitor), a given positioning system will produce locationinformation that corresponds to the geographic location of itsassociated user device (and user), or at least to a geographic locationwithin the same geographic region as its associated user device (anduser).

[0049] As described above, the location information produced by eachpositioning system 20-22 is provided to the user device 14-16respectively associated with the positioning system that produced theinformation. Interface hardware and software for coupling positioningsystems, such as GPSs, with computers are well known in the art.Moreover, some portable computers are presently being manufactured withinternal GPS hardware and software for processing geographic positioninformation relating to the geographic position of the portablecomputer. Accordingly, technology associated with interfacing apositioning system and a computer for communicating informationtherebetween and processing, by the computer, of geographic locationinformation is well known in the art and, for purposes of simplifyingthe present disclosure, is not described in detail herein.

[0050] In one aspect of the FIG. 2 embodiment, the user devices 14-16are operated under the control of associated user software 26-28,respectively to communicate geographic information to the providerdevice, such as a provider server 12. The server is operated under thecontrol of associated server software 29 to selectively provide or denya given user device 14-16 access to a product or service dependent uponthe geographic information provided by the given user device. In otherconfigurations of the FIG. 2 embodiment, the user devices 14-16 arecontrolled by the user software 26-28 to selectively provide or denyaccess, without the need to communicate geographic information to theprovider.

[0051] One embodiment of an operational process is generally shown withrespect to the flow chart of FIG. 3. At step 30 in FIG. 3, a user of,for example, the first user device 14, sends a request over the Internet18 to the server 12, requesting one or more products or services thatcan be provided over the Internet connection. The request may be in theform of, for example, a request to access an Internet web site, arequest to access a link from a web site page, a selection of an item ona menu displayed on a web page, or other forms of requests for contentover a network. Example embodiments of such a request are described infurther detail below, with respect to FIGS. 4a and 4 b.

[0052] In addition, geographic information corresponding to thegeographic location and/or region X of the positioning system 20 (and,thus, of the first user device 14) is provided to the first device 14 bythe positioning system 20 associated therewith. Such geographicinformation may include, for example, data corresponding to coordinatevalues provided by the positioning system, such as GPS generatedposition values. Alternatively, such geographic information may includedata corresponding to the region X, for example, determined by a routineof software 26, from information provided by the positioning system 20.Thus, for example, a software routine may control the user device 14 todetermine a region X for example, the region of a particular zip code,city, state, country or other geographically defined region) in whichthe user device 14 is located from the location information provided bythe positioning system 20 and to provide identification datacorresponding to that region (such as an identification name or codepreassigned for region X).

[0053] In preferred embodiments, however, the geographic information iscommunicated from the first user device to the server 12 and thedetermination of the region in which the user device is located isperformed at the provider server, under control of a routine of software29 (as represented by step 32 in FIG. 3). Once the user device's region(region X) is determined, a routine of software 29 controls the providerserver 29 to determine whether or not the region X is a restrictedregion (step 34). This determination may be made by any suitableroutine, including, but not limited to, a comparison of the data (e.g.,ID data) for region X with a pre-stored (or on-line) table or list ofrestricted regions (or a list of non-restricted regions).

[0054] Alternatively, the determination of whether or not the userdevice is in a restricted region may be made (at the user device 14 or,more preferably, at the provider server 12) from data corresponding tothe location information (such as coordinate values) provided by thepositioning system 20, without determining the pre-assigned ID name orcode for the region X. For example, coordinate values (as opposed to theID name or code) may be applied in an algorithm or comparison routine todetermine whether or not the coordinates are within a restricted region.Thus, in one example embodiment, a routine may determine, by apre-stored (or on-line) mathematical comparison routine or algorithm,whether or not the coordinate value data is within a particular rangecorresponding to the range of coordinates of a restricted (ornon-restricted) geographic region.

[0055] The path marked “No” from the step 34 in FIG. 3 represents adetermination that the region X in which the user device 14 is locatedis a restricted region. If the region X is determined to be a restrictedregion, then the provider server 12 is controlled to deny access by theuser device 14 to the requested product or service (step 36). Inpreferred embodiments, the server 12 provides a deny message to the userdevice 14 as part of step 36.

[0056] On the other hand, if the region X is determined in step 34 to bewithin a non-restricted region, then the user device 14 may be providedaccess to the product or service (step 38). In preferred embodiments, ifaccess is allowed (in step 38), the server 12 downloads to the userdevice 14, software files, programs, data, decode keys, or otherinformation that defines the requested product or service or that arenecessary for the user to obtain the requested product or service.

[0057] Accordingly, in the system embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3, a userdevice may communicate a request for a product or service, as well asgeographic information identifying the location or region of the userdevice, to a provider of the product or service on a wide area network,such as the Internet or WWW. The provider employs the geographicinformation to determine whether to allow or deny access to the productor service requested by the user device. In this manner, the provider ofa requested product or service on the network may control access to theproduct or service on the basis of the geographic location of the usermaking the request. In other embodiments, the software for determiningwhether the user should be denied or provided access to the requestedproduct or service resides on the user device (or is connected to orread by the user device), such that geographic information need not becommunicated over the network from the user's device to the providerdevice.

[0058] In further preferred embodiments, instead of a simpleaccess/deny-access determination, the provider may provide limitedaccess for one or more geographic regions or may provide various degreesof limited access, depending upon the geographic region of the userdevice. Thus, for example, a set of rules may be implemented such thatthe server 12 in FIG. 2 may be controlled to allow full access to aparticular product or service for user devices (such as 14) in a firstregion (region X), partial access to the product or service for userdevices (such as 15) in a second region (region Y) and no access foruser devices (such as 16) located outside of regions X and Y. A set ofrules may be pre-stored (for example, as part of the program controllingthe determination step 34 or as part of another program or file operablewith the control program), for implementing various combinations anddegrees of limitations, depending upon the geographic location of therequesting user device. Alternatively, a set of rules may be provided tothe server 12 from an on-line source, or the like.

[0059] In some embodiments, according to such rules, the provider mayrequire additional user input or other information to provide limited orfall access, depending upon the geographic location of the user device.For example, with respect to the above embodiment, the provider server12 may be controlled to allow access to any user device in the secondregion (region Y), only if the user also provides further information,such as the user's age, identification information, payment information,acceptance of an agreement, or other information, or only after the useris provided with a warning, disclaimer or other message or information.Preferably, the provider server 12 is controlled by the software 29 tocommunicate a request for such further information and/or to communicatethe warning, disclaimer or other message or data to the user.

[0060] Other information, which is not necessarily received from theuser device, may be employed in the determination of whether or not toallow access (fall or

[0061] In preferred embodiments in which the determination of whether toprovide, deny or limit access to the requested product or service iscarried out by the provider server 12, the user device (14-18)communicates time information to the server, for example, as part of orfollowing the request for the product or service. In a preferredInternet example embodiment, the communication of time information iscontrolled by software residing on the user device, transparent to theuser, such that the user need only select a product or service by, forexample, clicking on an appropriate location in a web site (or otherwiseentering data corresponding to a request), and the user's device willgenerate and communicate location and time information as part of or inassociation with the user's request.

[0062] The server 12 may then be controlled to make a determination(step 36 in FIG. 3) of whether or not the time information received fromthe requesting user device (14-16) is within an expected range, forexample, within a preselected time period before the time that theserver 12 receives the request (and/or the location information), whichcan be represented as:

(t ₁-)t)

t ₂

t ₁

[0063] where )t, is the preselected time period, t₁ is the time at whichthe request (and/or location information) was received by the server,and t₂ is the time corresponding to the time information received fromthe requesting user device. Other suitable algorithms or like means maybe used to determine whether or not t₂ is acceptable for a given usercomputer request. A step 40 for testing the acceptability of the timet₂, can improve the reliability that the location information was notpre-generated and recorded at another region. Thus, time testing step 40can provide a greater confidence to the provider that the locationinformation in a given request was generated by a positioning system atthe same location (or at least within the same local region) as therequesting user device and at about the same time that the requestinguser device is making the request.

[0064] In the FIG. 3 embodiment, the determination of whether or not thetime information received from the requesting user device corresponds toan acceptable time (step 40) is carried out following the determinationthat the requesting user device is within a non-restricted region or, atleast, a limited access region (step 34). However, in other embodiments,the acceptable time determination step (step 40) may be carried outbefore the region restriction determination step (step 34), such thatthe request is tested for an acceptable time prior to being tested foran acceptable geographic region. In such an embodiment, if the time t₂is determined to be not acceptable, then access would be denied (step36). The process would not proceed to the region-restrictiondetermination step (step 34) unless the time t₂ is determined to beacceptable in the time determination step.

[0065] Time information (corresponding to time t₂) which is communicatedto the server 12 by the requesting user device (14-16) is preferablyderived or generated from information obtained from the satellite (orother) signals received by the positioning system (20-22) associatedwith the requesting device. Typical modem GPS receivers receive andprocess time information signals as part of the satellitesignalprocessing steps carried out to determine geographic location. Becausethis time information will generally corresponds to the time at whichthe satellite signals are received and processed by the requesting userdevice, this time information may be used to provide the timeinformation communicated to the server 12 by the requesting user device(14-16). Alternatively, as described above, the time information may beobtained from other sources, including but not limited to a clock (notshown) located external or internal to the positioning system (20-22)and/or user device (14-16).

[0066] In further preferred embodiments, for purposes of minimizingcounterfeit position or time information, the requesting computer (ormore preferably, the positioning system) may be controlled to encryptthe time data and the geographic location data before transmission tothe server 12. In yet further preferred embodiments, the location andtime information provided by the positioning system (20-22) areencrypted together to render it more difficult to determine either oneor both items of information without the decryption algorithm or key. Inyet further preferred embodiments, the location and time information maybe encrypted by the requesting user device (or more preferably, theassociated positioning system) according to a key encoding scheme,wherein a common encoding key K1 is used at the user side and a decodingkey K2, different from the encoding key K1 issued to the user devices,is used by the server 12 for decoding the user device's communicationsand obtaining the location and time information therefrom.

[0067] In this manner, a requesting user device communicates locationinformation having (and preferably encrypted with), in effect, a timestamp corresponding generally to the time at which the satellite signalswere received and the location information was generated. In oneembodiment, the location and time information may be communicated fromthe requesting user device as part of the request (as represented inFIG. 4a) or as part of a separate communication (as represented in FIG.4b). More specifically, FIGS. 4a and 4 b represent examples ofalternative schemes for carrying out step 30 of FIG. 3. In FIG. 4a, arequest packet 42 communicated by the requesting user device to theserver 12 includes location and time information, as well as informationidentifying the product or service requested (“request info”) and,optionally, information identifying the user (“user info”). Preferably,at least the location and time information is encrypted. However, infurther preferred embodiments, all of the information may be encryptedtogether to render it more difficult to decode without the decryptionkey or algorithm.

[0068] In more preferred embodiments, the location and time informationare communicated separate from the requested product information(“request info”), as shown in FIG. 4b. In FIG. 4b, the requesting userdevice first communicates a request for a product or service, asrepresented by request packet 44. The server 12 may then be controlledto determine whether or not the requested product or service is onewhich involves geographic restrictions or limitations. If not, theserver may be operated to take further steps to provide access to therequested product or service. However, if the requested product orservice is one which does involve geographic restrictions orlimitations, then the server may be controlled to communicate a query 46to the requesting user device, in response to which the requesting userdevice may then communicate location and time information (representedby packet 48).

[0069] In further preferred embodiments, the user device 14-16 iscontrolled by software 26-28 to periodically (or otherwise successively)communicate location and/or time information generated by the associatedpositioning system 20-22 during a communication interchange between theprovider server 12 and the user device. As a result, the provider serveris provided with multiple location and/or time information packets overthe course of a communication interchange, to continue to monitor theuser device's location (or region) and reported time, thus, to allow theprovider server a greater confidence that the user device is located atthe location or region that corresponds to the location informationduring the time of the communication interchange. While, in the aboveembodiments, the user devices may be controlled to automaticallycommunicate the periodic (or successive) location and/or timeinformation, in a further embodiment, the server computer 12 may becontrolled by software 29 to periodically (or otherwise successively)communicate queries or prompts to the user devices 14-16 during acommunications interchange, requesting that the user communicatelocation and/or time information. The user device may then be controlledby its associated software to respond to each query by communicationlocation and/or time information to the provider server. In yet furtherembodiments, the user device may be controlled by software or hardwareresident in or with the user device to render the determination ofwhether or not to continue to provide access of the content to the user,thus, without requiring the location and time information to becommunicated over the network.

[0070] In one example embodiment, the user device may be controlled toprovide location and/or time information periodically or successivelywhile the requested content is being communicated to the user device in,what appears to the user as, a continuous stream. Thus, in periodic orsuccessive intervals during the reception of a stream of content, theuser device may be controlled to provide location and/or timeinformation. If, at any time during the stream of content, the locationand/or time information provided by the user device does not correspondto an expected location or time, as described above, then user access tothe stream of content may be thereafter denied or cut-off. The denial ofaccess may be controlled by the server, for example, by stopping thestreaming of content. Alternatively, the denial of access may becontrolled by the user device, for example, by inhibiting processing orreception of the streamed content or by exiting the web site associatedwith the content server. In the above embodiments, the stream of contentmay comprise, for example, a lengthy content file, such as a digitalmovie file, music file, graphics file, electronic book, computer game,or the like.

[0071] The flow charts of FIGS. 5 and 6 show example processes carriedout by the requesting user device (14-16) and the server 12,respectively, under the control of the software (26-28) and 29,respectively. The flow chart of FIG. 5 represents an example embodimentof a process carried out by the requesting user device, in accordancewith the scheme of FIG. 4b.

[0072] Initially, the requesting user device communicates a request(step 50) and then awaits a reply (steps 52 and 54). Preferably, if areply is not received within a predetermined time from the request step50, a determination is made (in step 54) to terminate the process as afailed attempt. If a reply is received within the allotted time, then adetermination is made as to whether or not the reply is a query forlocation information and/or time information (step 56). If not, therequesting user device prepares for receiving the requested product orservice (step 58). However, if the reply is a query for location and/ortime information, then the requesting user device is controlled tocommunicate location and/or time information (step 60) and awaits areply (steps 62 and 64). Such location and/or time information may beencrypted prior to communication, as part of step 60.

[0073] Preferably, if a reply is not received within a predeterminedtime from the send step 60, a determination is made (in step 64) toterminate the process as a failed attempt. If a reply is received withinthe allotted time, then a determination is made as to whether or not thereply is a denial message (step 66) and, if so, the user device may becontrolled to display a “denied access” message to the user and theprocedure may be terminated. If, on the other hand, the reply is anacceptance message or the requested product or service, then therequesting user device prepares for receiving the requested product orservice (step 58).

[0074] The flow chart in FIG. 6 represents an example embodiment of aprocess carried out by the server 12, upon receiving a request for aproduct or service. In the FIG. 6 embodiment, the server receives arequest from a user device (step 70). The server 12 is then controlledto determine whether or not the requested product or service is onewhich is limited or restricted geographically (step 72). This may beaccomplished, for example, by comparing identification information forthe requested product or service with a pre-stored (or on-line) table orlist of products or services which have geographic limitations orrestrictions (or which are free of such limitations or restrictions).

[0075] If the requested product or service is not limited or restrictedby the geographic location of the requester, then from step 72, theprocess proceeds to prepare for sending the requested product or service(step 74). If, on the other hand, the requested product or service isone which is geographically limited or restricted, then the server 12 iscontrolled to send one or more queries, requesting location and/or timeinformation.(step 76) and then await receipt of such information (steps78 and 80). Preferably, if a reply is not received within apredetermined time from the send step 76, a determination is made (instep 80) to terminate the process as a failed attempt. If a reply isreceived within the allotted time, then, at least in some embodiments,the region in which the user device resides is determined (step 82) andthe thus-determined region is compared with a table or list ofnon-restricted (or restricted or limited) regions (step 84) to determinewhether the requesting user device is within a restricted, limited ornon-restricted access region. Alternative embodiments may determine thisinformation from the location information, instead of first determiningthe region to which the location information corresponds. If thelocation and/or time information was encrypted prior to communicationfrom the user device, then step 82 would also involve a step of decodingthe encoded information prior to determining the geographic regionassociated with the information.

[0076] If the server determines that the requesting user device iswithin a non-restricted region, then the server prepares to send therequested product or service (step 74). Otherwise, the server sends adeny message to the requesting user device and terminates the process(step 86).

[0077] While, the processes represented in FIGS. 5 and 6 are exampleembodiments for carrying out various aspects of the present invention,other processes which involve the communication over the Internet (orother communications network) of location information obtained frompositioning system (such as a GPS) and which control, limit or restrictaccess to products or services based on such location information, maybe within the scope of further embodiments of the present invention.

[0078] Furthermore, it is noted that determinations, such as whether ornot the requested product or service is controlled (step 72), whether ornot the user device is in a restricted region (step 82 and/or 84) or thedegree of restriction or additional information needed based on theuser's geographic location (step 74) are primarily described above asbeing performed by the server 12. This may be preferred for purposes ofminimizing fraudulent requests. However, such systems and processesrequire the communication of the recipient (or user) device's locationover the network, which may be problematic if the user's location isconsidered to be sensitive or private information.

[0079] Other embodiments avoid the need to communicate locationinformation over the network, for example, by employing the recipient(or user) device 14-16 and software (26-28) to perform some or all ofthese determinations. The recipient (or user) device may also becontrolled by its associated software perform the time comparisonfunctions (step 80). Thus, for example, the user device (or informationreceiver processor) may operate with software that effectively locks theuser device (information receiver) out or otherwise disables or limitsthe user device's ability to receive requested information, products orservices, or disables or limits the ability to process receivedinformation, products or services into a user perceptible or usableform, in the event that the user device (information receiver) is in ageographic region for which access to such information, products orservices is restricted or limited, or is not in a location thatcorresponds to a predefined (unrestricted) or expected geographicregion.

[0080] In one example embodiment, a server that receives a request for aproduct or service from a recipient (user) device may be programmed tosend a prompt to the recipient device to effect the geographic controlfunctions. For example, upon receiving a request for a product orservice from a recipient device (step 70 in FIG. 6), the serverprocessor first determines whether the requested product or service iscontrolled (step 72 in FIG. 6). If not, then the recipient device isprovided access to the product or service. However, if the requestedproduct or service is controlled, then the server computer communicatesa prompt or command to the recipient device to perform the remainingsteps of the process. The server processor may also provide therecipient device with data corresponding to one or more geographiclocation, which may be, for example restricted, limited access or freeaccess locations. Alternatively, the prompt or command and/or the datacorresponding to one or more geographic location may be included as partof the content of the product or service being requested.

[0081] The recipient device may, thus, be controlled by suitablesoftware, firmware or the like residing on the recipient device (orotherwise accessible by the device) to, for example, selectively deny,limit or allow access to predefined information on the network, displaywarning or other messages, or enable or disable processing or receivingcircuitry or routines necessary to receive or effectively use thepredefined information on the network, without requiring thetransmission of location information from the recipient device.

[0082] In another example embodiment, a server that receives a requestfor a product or service from a recipient device may be programmed tosend the content (product or service) in an encrypted format, whereinthe decryption key or algorithm includes or uses the locationinformation corresponding to, for example, a free access region, or theexpected location of the recipient device. Many forms of encryption arecommonly used for electronic transmissions of content, includingInternet communications. Typical encryption schemes employ an algorithmand/or a key for decrypting the encrypted content. Such algorithms andkeys typically include or are composed of values, numbers, parameters,or the like.

[0083] In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, datacorresponding to the geographic location of the recipient (user)processor is used as, for example, one or more of the values, numbers orparameter of the decryption key and/or algorithm. Time data, asdescribed above, may also be used in the decryption key and/oralgorithm. Yet other data, such as identification information, includinguser identification and/or user device identification information, maybe used in conjunction with the location data or with the location andtime data to provide values, numbers or parameters of the decryption keyor algorithm. Thus, a recipient (user) processor that is provided accessto (receives) encrypted content over the network (for example,Internet), will query its associated positioning system for geographiclocation information (and, in some embodiments, time information andidentification information) and will use such information as thedecryption key (or as part of the decryption key) or in the algorithmrequired for decrypting the content. In yet other embodiments, thelocation information (in some embodiments, location information inconjunction with time information and/or identification information) maybe used as part of an address or may be used to derive an address from alook-up table, address algorithm or the like, where the addresscorresponds to a memory location, network location or the like, at whichthe recipient processor may obtain a decryption key pre-stored orgenerated at the address location.

[0084]FIG. 7 is a generalized block diagram of a decryption modulesystem in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Arespective decryption module system may be coupled to, implemented by orpart of each respective recipient processor 14-16 in FIG. 2. In the FIG.7 diagram, the module system includes a decryption module 90 thatcomprises a hardware, firmware, software or hybrid decryption system forperforming decryption operations in accordance with any suitabledecryption technique. Various encryption/decryption techniquesapplicable to the present invention are well known in the art,including, but not limited to public key algorithm (RSA), private key,hybrid, or other suitable techniques.

[0085] The decryption module 90 is coupled to obtain geographic locationinformation from a source of location information 92 (for example, oneof the positioning systems 20-22 in FIG. 2), such as a GPS. Timeinformation may also be provided by the source 92 or other suitablesource, as described above. The decryption module 90 may also be coupledto obtain additional data for use in a decryption key or algorithm. Suchadditional data may be obtained from any suitable source 94, including,but not limited to a user input device, a card reading device, a memorydevice containing pre-stored data, an on-line connection, a processorroutine which derives codes, serial numbers or other data fromcomponents resident on the user's device, or the like. In oneembodiment, such additional data comprises an identification code issuedor assigned to the user, where the identification code is preferablyunique with respect to identification codes issued to other users. Suchcodes may be issued or otherwise assigned to authorized users (orsubscribers) by, for example, the content provider at some time beforecontent communication transactions are carried out by the users.

[0086] The decryption module system, comprising the module 90, source 92and, in some embodiments, source 94 may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware or combinations thereof for operation with itsassociated recipient processor. The module 90 and one or both sources 92and 94 may be implemented as separate units connected together or, morepreferably, as a single unit within a common housing or package that maybe readily connectable to its associated recipient processor. In onepreferred embodiment, a housing or package containing the module 90 andone or both sources 92 and 94 also includes a connector for connectingto a standard serial, parallel, RSA or other port on the recipientprocessor, such that the module system may be easily connected to ordisconnected from a suitable recipient processor by a user. For example,the module system may be housed or packaged in a dongle device asdescribed above, a disc or other structure configured to fit within astandard disc drive as described above, or other suitable housing orpackaging connectable to the recipient processor through standard ornonstandard ports on the recipient processor, using one or more wired oroptical, electromagnetic, or other wireless connections.

[0087] In operation, the decryption module 90 receives encrypted contentas input 96 from, for example, an Internet connection. In oneembodiment, the module 90 is coupled directly to an Internet connection.In more preferred embodiments, the recipient processor has an Internetconnection for receiving the encrypted content and passes the receivedencrypted content to the input 96 of the decryption module 90.

[0088] In addition, the decryption module 90 obtains geographic locationinformation from system 92 and any other data that may be used in thedecryption process, for example, time data from system 92 or othersuitable time source, and/or identification data from source 94. Thedecryption module 90 employs the geographic location information, timeinformation and/or identification information in the decryption processto produce a decrypted content signal as the module output 98.

[0089]FIGS. 8 and 9 are generalized flow chart diagrams of processescarried out by a content provider processor and a recipient (or user)processor in accordance with an example embodiment of theabove-described decryption system. It will be understood, however, thatother processes for performing the general encryption/decryption aspectsdescribed herein (using geographic information or combinations ofgeographic, time and identification or other information) may also beemployed without departing from the present invention. FIG. 8 representsan example process carried out by a recipient processor, while FIG. 9represents an example process carried out by the content providerprocessor, as part of the same content communication transaction.

[0090] In one embodiment of the process of FIGS. 8 and 9, eachauthorized user preregisters with the content provider and is provided auser code (preferably unique to the user). The code may be analphanumeric string, symbol, icon or the like which may later be enteredor selected by the user with a user input device. Alternatively, thecode may be recorded on a machine readable card, token or other deviceto be carried by the authorized user or recorded in a memory device(including, but not limited to hard, floppy, optical or magneto-opticaldisc, tape, firmware or dongle devices) associated with the user'scommunication device (computer, set top box, dedicated processor system,PDA, mobile telephone, or the like). In yet further embodiments, thecode may be derived from an on-line connection, or by a processorroutine which derives pre-recorded codes, serial numbers or other datafrom components (including, but not limited to, micro-processors, discdrives, operating systems, or the like) resident on or connected to theuser's device.

[0091] As part of the registration process, the user's geographiclocation is obtained by the provider, and may be verified by anysuitable process, including, but not limited to looking up the user in atelephone directory, requiring the user to submit verifying data and/orpayment information such as credit card data, or the like. The providermay then form a table or other suitable mechanism for associating usercodes with corresponding user geographic locations, such that theprovider will be able to associate each authorized user with an expected(and, preferably, pre-verified) geographic location. For example, alook-up table scheme may be employed in which user codes are associatedon a one-to-one basis with data corresponding to an expected userlocation or with an address or pointer to a memory location at which theexpected user location is stored. The user code itself may form anaddress or a portion of an address at which data corresponding to anexpected user location is stored. In further embodiments, more than oneexpected user location may be associated with a given user code, forexample, corresponding to multiple locations in which the user isexpected to receive content, such as the user's home(s), office(s),other places of business or commercial establishments, locations alongan expected travel route, or the like. Thus, in one embodiment, a usermay register multiple locations with a content provider. In such anembodiment, the lookup table entry or memory locations associated with auser code noted above may include data corresponding to the multiplegeographic locations.

[0092] The content provider may charge fees to each user forregistration of a user location and may charge additional fees for eachadditional or groups of additional registered locations for a givenuser. Fees charged to a given user may also be based on other factors,such as the number of people or recipient devices likely to be presentat the registered location(s) or the number of users simultaneouslyreceiving content at registered location(s), where greater fees arecharged for greater numbers of people or users.

[0093] In a further embodiment, the user code is assigned to the userafter the user provides geographic information for one or more locationsand, preferably, after the content provider verifies the geographicinformation as noted above. In such an embodiment, the user code may begenerated by the content provider to include an encrypted form of theuser's registered geographic location(s). Thereafter, during acommunication process, the user code may be decrypted (used in analgorithm or otherwise employed) to determine the user's expectedlocation(s).

[0094] Once a user has registered with the content provider and hasreceived or has been assigned a user code, the user may send a requestfor content, products or services, over the network, for example, theInternet, (100 in FIG. 8) and the provider processor may then receivethe request over the network (102 in FIG. 9). In an Internet embodiment,the request may be initiated over the Internet by a user, for example,attempting to access a web page, attempting to access a link on a webpage, submitting request or order information, or the like. The userrequest may include (or be accompanied by) a user code assigned to theuser making the request, as described above. In other embodimentsdescribed below, the user need not have a pre-assigned user code and therecipient (user) processor requesting the content need not send a usercode. The content provider may charge a fee to the user from which arequest is received or for which a request is fulfilled. Moreover, thefee charged to a given user to obtain access to a given content or eachpiece of content may be dependant upon factors described above, relatingto the number of registered locations for the user, the likely number ofusers or recipient processors at each registered location, the actualnumber of simultaneous users at the registered location(s), or the like.Thus, a higher fee may be charged to when the number of locations, usersor recipient processors is greater, in the above example.

[0095] In embodiments in which a user code is employed, the recipient(user) processor may be programmed to provide the user code as part ofor in association with each user's request for content. Alternatively,the recipient processor may be programmed to first determine whether therequested content requires control measures (similar to thedetermination described above with respect to step 72 in FIG. 6) and, ifso, only then provide the user code as part of or in association withthe request for the content.

[0096] In yet a further alternative, the recipient processor maycommunicate the request without the user code. In such an embodiment,the provider processor may be programmed to determine whether therequested content requires control measures (similar to thedetermination described above with respect to step 72 in FIG. 6). If therequested content does not require control measures, then the access tothe content may be provided to the recipient (user) processor (again,similar to steps 72 and 74 in FIG. 6). However, if the requested contentrequires control measures, then the provider processor issues a query orcommand to the requesting recipient computer to provide the user code(similar to step 76 in FIG. 6, but querying for user code instead ofgeographic location). In response, the recipient computer communicatesthe user code to the provider processor.

[0097] Once the provider processor receives the user code, the providerprocessor associates an expected location with the user code (104 inFIG. 9). The expected location may be derived by the provider processor,for example, from the above-described table (for example, look-up table)or other suitable mechanism for associating user codes withcorresponding expected user locations. The provider processor may thenencrypt the content with an encryption algorithm or technique for whichthe expected user location is part of the decryption key or decryptionprocesses used to decrypt the content, as described above (106 in FIG.9). In further embodiments, the encryption algorithm or technique mayalso employ the user code (and user identification or recipientprocessor identification information) as part of the decryption key ordecryption process.

[0098] The encrypted content is communicated to the recipient processorover the network (108 in FIG. 9) and received by the recipient processor(110 in FIG. 8). In other embodiments, the encrypted content may becommunicated to the recipient processor through other means, including,but not limited to, mailing or otherwise delivering a computer readablemedium on which the encrypted content is stored, broadcasting theencrypted content through satellite or ground based broadcast systems,or the like. The recipient processor also obtains location informationand, in some embodiments, other decryption key or algorithm data, forexample, as described above with respect to sources 92 and 94 in FIG. 7(112 in FIG. 8). While step 112 is shown in FIG. 8 as following step110, other embodiments may obtain (or at least begin the process ofobtaining) location information and any other key or algorithm databefore or while the encrypted content is received (110 in FIG. 8).

[0099] The recipient processor then attempts to decrypt the encryptedcontent, using the location information provided by the positioningsystem 92 and any other key or algorithm data provided by sources 92 and94 as described above with respect to decryption module 90 in FIG. 7. Ifthe location and other data corresponds to the same data expected by theprovider processor (for example, the same data that was previouslyverified and included in the provider processor's look-up table and/orthe appropriate time data as described above), then the decryptionalgorithm or key employed by the recipient processor should successfullydecrypt the encrypted content (114 in FIG. 8) and the decrypted contentmay then be displayed to the user (116 in FIG. 8). On the other hand, ifthe location and/or other data obtained from sources 92 and 94 does notcorrespond to the expected data (indicating, for example, that therecipient processor is not located at the proper location or that timedata indicates that the location information may have beenpre-recorded), then the decryption algorithm or key used by therecipient processor should not successfully decrypt the encryptedcontent.

[0100] In embodiments in which time data is used as part of theencryption/decryption technique or scheme, the content may be encryptedin a manner in which the decryption key or algorithm would include oremploy a time parameter which must fall within a specified range of time(for example )t) to successfully decrypt the encrypted content. Therange )t may be a selected time period following the transmission ofcontent from the content provider, within which the provider expects ordesires the recipient to receive and/or process and display the content.Thus, if the time data from source 92 or 94 does not correspond to atime within )t, then the decryption attempt would not be successful.

[0101] Alternatively, the content provider may involve a dynamicallychanging encryption technique or scheme, for which the decryptionalgorithm or key changes over time. For example, the time data parameterassociated with )t may change over time. In such an embodiment, therecipient processor may be programmed to perform a plurality ofretrievals of time data from source 92 or 94 (periodically or otherwisesuccessively) during the receipt and/or decryption of the content, tocontinue to successfully decrypt the encrypted content. In oneembodiment, the receipt of encrypted content, decryption of encryptedcontent and successive retrievals of time data may occur substantiallysimultaneously. In further embodiments, a plurality of retrievals ofgeographic location information from position system 92 may be performedand used in the dynamically changing decryption algorithm or key, as analternative or in addition to successive retrievals of time data asdescribed above.

[0102] In one dynamic encryption embodiment, the content encryptiontechnique, scheme, algorithm or key changes a plurality of times duringthe course of a communication of the requested content, such that therecipient processor must successively change the decryption technique,scheme, algorithm or key at intervals corresponding to the intervals atwhich the encryption technique, scheme, algorithm or key were changed.In such an embodiment, the recipient processor and content providerprocessor may be synchronized during an initiation or handshakingprocedure, to change encryption and decryption techniques, schemes,algorithms or keys in a synchronized fashion. Alternatively, therecipient processor may synchronize or otherwise be controlled by dataincluded in the content to change decryption techniques, schemes,algorithms or keys at the appropriate time. In higher securityembodiments, the encryption and decryption techniques, schemes,algorithms or keys may be changed at seemingly random intervals.

[0103] In yet further embodiments, time data is used as part of theencryption/decryption technique or scheme as described above, however,without the use of geographic location information. In such embodiments,the content is encrypted in a manner for which the decryption algorithmor key includes or employs the expected time or range of time )t. Therecipient processor obtains current time information from a suitabletime source as described above and employs the current time informationin an attempt to decrypt the content. If the current time informationcorresponds to the expected time or range of time )t, then the recipientprocessor should be able to decrypt the encrypted content. If thecurrent time information does not correspond to the expected time orrange of time )t, then the recipient processor should not be able todecrypt the encrypted content.

[0104] In embodiments in which the recipient processor (or user device)communicates its location information to the provider processor, theprovider processor may maintain a record of the number of recipientprocessors (user devices) requesting or accessing content at a giventime from a location or locations registered for a given user. If thenumber exceeds a threshold (which could be set at one or more), then theprovider processor may assume that one or more recipient processors (oruser devices) are unauthorized users and may thereafter inhibit orcut-off all users from the registered location or locations. Thus, ifthe registered location is a household, the threshold may be set to thenumber of expected users within the household. If the registeredlocation is a theater, stadium, concert hall or the like, then thethreshold may be set to the number of ticket holders.

[0105] In other embodiments, a user code need not be issued orcommunicated. Instead, the provider need only know in advance thespecific (or, in some embodiments, the general) expected location (orgeneral region) of the authorized users and encrypt the content in amanner for which a decryption key or algorithm includes or uses theexpected location (or any location within the expected general region)to decrypt the content, as described above. The expected location ofauthorized users may be determined, for example, during a registrationprocess as described above or other suitable means. In this manner, thecontent provider may communicate (or allow access to) the encryptedcontent to any recipient processor from which a request for such contentis received or with which a communication channel is otherwise opened.However, unless the recipient processor is located in an expectedlocation (or region) and is, therefore, provided location informationfrom its associated position system 92 for that location or region, therecipient processor will not be able to obtain the appropriatedecryption key or algorithm to successfully decrypt the content. Theencryption/decryption technique or scheme may also employ other data(such as time data or user code data) from sources 92 and 94, asdescribed above. In addition, the encryption/decryption technique orscheme may dynamically change, as described above. Furthermore, therecipient processor may be controlled to perform multiple locationand/or time retrievals and successful comparisons with expected locationand/or time information during reception and/or decryption of thecontent to allow continued reception or decryption.

[0106] In other embodiments, such as for contexts in which lower contentsecurity is tolerable, instead of encrypting the content, the contentmay be provided with shell or wrapper software or a tag or command forcontrolling the recipient computer to carry out location-dependentaccess functions as described above. For example, in response to thereceipt of a request from a recipient processor and, in preferredembodiments, a determination that the requested content is controlled(similar to steps 70 and 72 in FIG. 6), the provider processorcommunicates the requested content, with shell or wrapper software orwith a tag or label as described below. In embodiments in which shell orwrapper software is included with the content, the recipient processoris controlled by the shell or wrapper software to perform functions asdescribed above, for example, with respect to obtaining geographiclocation information for the associated positioning system (for example,GPS), determining whether or not the recipient processor is in arestricted, limited or non-restricted access region and/or applyingaccess or limitation rules based on the location of the recipientprocessor. In embodiments in which a tag or indicator is included withthe content, the tag or label operates to execute the above-describedfunctions of the recipient processor, from software pre-stored on amemory device associated with the recipient processor. In suchembodiments, the tag may comprise an execute command or any other formof indicator initiating the pre-stored software routines. In yet furtherembodiments, a shell, wrapper or tag may be employed in combination withfull or partial encryption of the content to increase security.

[0107] In the above embodiments, the shell, wrapper, tag or label mayinclude information corresponding to the expected geographic location ofthe recipient processor and/or the expected time or time range )t. Therecipient processor may then use the expected location and/or timeinformation to perform a comparison process with current location and/ortime information obtained from sources 92 and 94 as described above.

[0108] According to yet other shell/wrapper and tag/label embodiments,in response to the receipt of a request from a recipient processor and,in preferred embodiments, a determination that the requested content iscontrolled (similar to steps 70 and 72 in FIG. 6), the providerprocessor communicates a query or request for the recipient computer'slocation and/or information (similar to step 76 in FIG. 6) and therecipient processor responds with such information (similar to step 60in FIG. 5). The provider processor then employs the location informationin shell or wrapper software or in a tag or label and associates theshell or wrapper, or the tag or label with the content. The content andassociated shell/wrapper or tag/label is then communicated to therecipient processor.

[0109] In preferred embodiments, all (or, at least some) furthercommunications from the provider processor to the recipient processorthat may occur in the transaction include a shell/wrapper or tag/label.In the context of a typical Internet website experience, a user mayreceive multiple communications, corresponding to multiple pages of awebsite or multiple links taken by the user. Thus, each page or link maybe considered a separate communication for which a shell, wrapper, tagor label may be employed as described above. Alternatively, each packetor each predefined number of packets communicated over the Internet maybe considered a separate communication for which a shell, wrapper, tagor label may be employed as described above. In this manner, with thereceipt of each communication (or, at least some of the furthercommunications) from the provider processor, the recipient processor iscontrolled by the shell or wrapper software (or by pre-stored softwareinitiated by the tag or label) to obtain location information from itsassociated locating system and compare the location information withthat included in the shell/wrapper or tag/label. Further access to thecontent is controlled (for example, denied, limited or allowed) by thesoftware, based on whether or not the location information from thelocating system corresponds to location information included in theshell/wrapper or tag/label. For example, if the location informationdoes not match, then access may be denied (for example, by inhibitingfurther processing of the content) and/or a warning or other messageinformation may be provided to the recipient processor for display tothe user. In this manner, the location information may be employed toestablish and maintain, in effect, a directed communication link betweenthe provider processor and the recipient processor located at a locationcorresponding to the location information in the shell or wrapper, ortag or label.

[0110] In further embodiments, the shell or wrapper, or tag or label,may include location information corresponding to the location of pluralrecipient processors, such that the content associated with the shell orwrapper, or tag or label, is communicated, in effect, in a directedcommunication link with plural computers. This directed communicationlink between the provider processor and the plural recipient processors,thus, comprises a sub-network of the overall wide area network (orInternet). In accordance with such embodiments, the provider processormay communicate directed communications to each recipient processor in aparticular sub-network. In addition, the provider processor may directdifferent communications (or different content) to differentsub-networks of recipient processors, by appropriately tagging orlabeling (or associating shell or wrapper software with) the contentcommunications.

[0111] Systems or processes, as described above, in which the recipientprocessor is provided with a positioning system, for example, but notlimited to, a GPS, have a wide variety of applications. Some exampleapplications are described herein. However, it will be understood thatthe invention encompasses many other applications of systems andprocesses.

[0112] In one example, systems as described above may be employed forcommunicating content to pre-authorized users or subscribers, forexample, in the context of a subscription service for audio or visualentertainment, including, but not limited to, movies, music, videogames, electronic books or other software programs or electroniccontent, over a wide area network, such as the Internet. Thus, in oneexample, a movie or music distribution company registers users and, aspart of the registration process as described above, obtains andverifies the user's geographic location or locations. The user may alsobe issued a user code as part of the registration process. Thereafter,the user may access a web site operated by the distribution company andorder or request a movie or music piece. For example, the web site wouldinclude prompts and/or links to allow a user to enter a request or orderfor content (movies or music) by, for example, clicking on appropriatelinks, icons or otherwise entering and communicating request or orderdata. Control of access to the requested content would carried out inaccordance with any of the above-described embodiments.

[0113] Depending upon the process and system embodiment employed, theuser may or may not be prompted (or the user computer may or may not becontrolled) to communicate user location information to the contentprovider, over the network. For example, content distribution may becontrolled as described above with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6 and relatedembodiments, in applications in which communication of the recipient'slocation over the network is not impractical or otherwise undesirable.Alternatively, or in addition, the user may be prompted (or the usercomputer may be controlled) to communicate user code information to thecontent provider, over the network, as described above. Furthermore, therequested content may be encrypted in accordance with the expected userlocation, expected time information and other variables, as describedabove and communicated to the user over the Internet in encrypted form.In this manner, content distribution may be controlled as describedabove with respect to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 and related embodiments.

[0114] The content provider may charge subscribing users a fee forallowing access to requested content. Such a fee may allow unlimitedaccess for a period of time (for example a day, month, year, etc.) ormay be calculated on a per-use basis (wherein the subscriber is chargedfor each viewing or playing of the content). The content provider maymaintain a record of subscriber charges, for example, associating eachsubscriber's usage charge with the subscribers identificationinformation and/or user code. In one embodiment, the content providermaintains an account record for pre-paid amounts received bysubscribers, for example, in a table in which pre-paid amounts areassociated with subscriber information, such as user code. In thismanner, as part of the request processing carried out by the contentprovider, the content provider may determine whether the user making therequest has enough funds in the corresponding user account to cover thefees for the requested content. If not, the content provider maycommunicate a message to the user, indicating that further funds areneeded and/or requesting the submission of additional funds. The contentprovider may deduct fees from a user's account to cover chargesdescribed above and may add funds to a user's account to cover refunds,discounts or the like.

[0115] In another example embodiment, the content comprisesadvertisement information associated with a group of one or more stores,restaurants, theaters or other so-called “bricks and mortar”establishments at a particular location or region. As a representativeexample, a group of establishments may comprise the stores, restaurantsand/or theaters or the like, which are all located in a particularshopping area having geographic boundaries, such as a shopping mall, astreet or neighborhood of shops, or the like, for example, as shown inFIG. 10.

[0116] In one aspect of the FIG. 10 embodiment, the recipient (user)processor comprises a processor 120 coupled to a wide area network(preferably, the Internet) 18 and to a video display device 122. Thedisplay device 122 preferably comprises a large format display, such asa large-screen tube, plasma, or LCD display device or other electronicbillboard or electronic sign display device, disposed in a locationwhich is readily viewable to people present in the shopping area. In theillustrated example, the display 122 is located above the entrance to amovie theater and comprises or is part of the marquee of the theater.The illustrated example also shows another recipient processor 124,coupled to another display device 128, for example, located at a theaterin another shopping area. In other embodiments, the display devices 122and 126 may be located in other suitable, preferably readily viewableand highly noticeable, locations in their respective shopping areas. Inpreferred embodiments, each recipient processor is associated with arespective position system, for example, a GPS, as represented by 126and 130, respectively.

[0117] In the FIG. 10 example, each recipient processor 120 and 124 isprovided content from the content provider processor 12. In embodimentsin which geographic control is not employed, the content may be directedto the recipient processors in any suitable manner, including, but notlimited to conventional addressing schemes. However, in preferredembodiments, any one of the above processes or systems for controllingthe distribution of content based on geographic location may beemployed. Thus, according to such processes and systems, the processor120 is provided access to (or is able to decrypt) first content providedby the content provider 12, based on the location of the processor 120,as determined by the GPS 126, but is denied access to (or is unable todecrypt) second content provided by the content provider 12. On theother hand, processor 124 is provided access to (or is able to decrypt)the second content, based on the location of the processor 124, asdetermined by the GPS 130, but is unable to access (or decrypt) thefirst content. In this manner, the provider processor 12 may providefirst content to the recipient processor 120, wherein the first contentcorresponds to advertisement or promotional information relating to theestablishments within the same shopping area as the processor 120.Similarly, the provider processor 12 may provide second content to therecipient processor 124, wherein the second content corresponds toadvertisement or promotional information relating to establishmentswithin the same shopping area as processor 124.

[0118] In this manner, the display device 122, which is viewable toshoppers or potential shoppers within a first shopping area, willdisplay information, advertisement or promotional material relating toshops, restaurants, theaters or other establishments in the sameshopping area. On the other hand, display device 128 will displayinformation relating to the establishments in its respective shoppingarea. The control of access to the appropriate content for displayingthe appropriate information at the respective shopping areas is,therefore, based on the geographic location the respective recipientprocessors 120 and 124.

[0119] In one preferred embodiment, the first content to which theprocessor 120 is provided access, produces a display on display device122 corresponding to the title and time of a theater production orshowing (or multiple titles and times for multiple productions orshowings) scheduled to take place at the theater 132. In furtherpreferred embodiments, the first content also comprises video clipscorresponding to portions or samples of theater productions or showingsscheduled to take place at the theater 132. In yet further preferredembodiments, the first content comprises a combination of such videoclips and title information. Similarly, the second content to which theprocessor 124 is provided access, comprises title, time and/or videoclips associated with theater productions or showings scheduled to takeplace in the theater associated with display device 128. The contentprovider 12 may comprise a computer operated by the owner of a pluralityof theaters (or by the owner's agent, contractor or service provider),which provides access to content by each theater, based on thegeographic location of the theater. In this manner, the marquees for aplurality of theaters may be controlled remotely from a single providerprocessor 12, where each theater marquee displays information specificto productions or showings scheduled for that particular theater.

[0120] In a further embodiment of the FIG. 10 example, the first contentprovided to the recipient processor 120 for display on the displaydevice 122 comprises information, such as promotional or advertisementinformation for a plurality of different establishments within the sameshopping area. Thus, for example, the first content may includeadvertisement information for a bakery 134 and further advertisementinformation for a hobby shop 136 located within the same shopping areaas the recipient processor 120 and display device 122. Suchadvertisement information may be communicated to the content provider 12and stored in advance.

[0121] For example, the owner of each of these establishments may havecommunicated advertisement information to the provider processor 12,from suitable computers 138 and 140 coupled to the network 18. In suchan embodiment, the provider processor operates with an associated memorydevice on which advertisement or other display content is stored, forcommunication to the recipient processors for displaying at appropriatetimes. Alternatively, the content provider may link or connect therecipient processor 120 to the computers 138 and 140 at appropriatetimes, to allow the recipient processor to obtain the advertisementinformation directly from the computers 138 and 140.

[0122] The provider processor 12 may operate a web site for allowingestablishments and other advertisers to register and communicateadvertisements, promotional information or other information to bedisplayed on one or more of the display devices 122 and 128. Theoperator of the provider processor or display devices may charge fees toadvertisers, based one or more factors, including, the length of theadvertisement, the time and date of the display of the advertisement,the number of times that advertisement is displayed, the number ofdisplay devices on which the advertisement is displayed or the like.

[0123] The determination of which establishment's advertisementinformation should be included in the first content provided to therecipient processor 120 and which information should be included in thesecond content provided to the second processor 124 may be carried out,based on the geographic location of the advertiser. Thus, for example,the advertisement information provided by the bakery and hobby storeowners would be associated with geographic information corresponding tothe first shopping area in which the recipient processor 120 is located.The advertisers may provide such information with the advertisementinformation. For example, the advertiser may communicate thisinformation to the provider processor 12, through a user input device orother means for providing position information as described above,including, but not limited to a GPS device coupled to the advertiser'scomputer 138 and 140. In this manner, the content provider 12 maycontrol the distribution of advertisement information for a plurality ofestablishments to a particular recipient processor (or a plurality ofparticular recipient processors and associated display devices), basedon the geographic location of the establishments and the recipientprocessor. Thus, for example, advertisement information content for agiven establishment may be directed to a recipient processor and displaydevice (or a plurality of recipient processor and display devices)closest to the geographic location of the establishment to which theadvertisement pertains.

[0124] In addition, each advertiser may modify, add or deleteadvertisement information, for example, from the advertiser's computer134 and 136, by communicating suitable instructions to the providerprocessor 12 (or directly to the recipient processor 120). In preferredembodiments, each advertiser may control the general time at which theadvertiser's message will be displayed, for example, by communicatinginstructions to the provider processor 12 (or directly to the recipientprocessor 120) from the advertiser's computer 138 or 140. Suchinstructions may be communicated, for example, through a web site asdescribed above. In such an embodiment, an advertiser may access the website from the advertiser's computer 138 or 140 and select operations,such as deleting, adding or modifying content (advertisements or otherinformation) to be displayed, and selecting times, dates or displaydevice locations for displaying the content. The web site may includesuitable menus, icons, user input fields or the like for performing theabove operations or making the above selections. The web site may evenallow an advertiser to request a piece of content to be displayedimmediately (or as soon as possible) on one or more selected displaydevices. Thus, for example, the owner of the bakery 134 may access theweb site and communicate instructions or information for displaying onthe display device 122 an advertisement for fresh, hot muffins, justbefore or as the baker removes the muffins from the oven. In thismanner, pedestrians within view of the display device 122 and, thus,near the bakery, will be shown, for example, steaming-hot muffins andother visual stimulation, as well as information about where to find thebakery, at a time at which the muffins will have been freshly removedfrom the oven.

[0125] In yet a further embodiment, the establishment's processor 138 or140 may be programmed to automatically communicate a signal to theprovider processor 12 to cause a specified piece of content to bedisplayed on one or more selected display devices 122 and 128. Theautomatic communication of the signal to the provider processor may becontrolled by an event sensor, such as a timer (where the event is theexpiration of a preset time period), a motion or proximity detector fordetecting the presence of people or vehicles in an area (such as theshopping area adjacent and within view of a display device 122 or 128),or other sensor or detector. For example, in the above bakery example, asensor may be provided on the baker's oven (or other equipment), tosense the completion (or near completion) of a baking process, such thata signal is sent to the provider processor to display an advertisementfor the baked product immediately (or as soon as possible). In otherembodiments, sensors may be employed to sense other events associatedwith a product or service offered by an advertising establishment, tocontrol the display of an advertisement for the product or service uponthe occurrence of the event. Such events may be associated with themanufacture, production, maturation, inventory or other event orvariable associated with a product. In one example embodiment, anestablishment's inventory control system (electronic or softwareoperated) may be controlled to cause a signal to be sent to the providerprocessor for displaying an advertisement for a given product, upon theinventory control system determining that the inventory (or expectedinventory) of the given product has exceeded a pre-defined threshold.Alternatively, or in addition, the inventory control system may becontrolled to cause a signal to be sent to the provider processor forpulling or stopping an otherwise scheduled display of an advertisementfor a given product, upon the inventory control system determining thatthe inventory (or expected inventory) of the given product as fallenbelow a predefined threshold.

[0126] In yet a further embodiment of the FIG. 10 example,establishments within a particular shopping area may communicateinformation, such as advertisement or promotional information, to aplurality of portable recipient processors located in the same shoppingarea, through the provider processor. For example, pedestrians orvehicles within the particular shopping area may have portablecommunication devices connected for communication over the Internet.Such portable communication devices may include portable telephones,personal communication devices or vehicle-mounted communication deviceswith Internet communication capabilities, as is well known in the artand as described above. In preferred embodiments, such portable devicesalso include a locating system, for example, but not limited to, a GPS,for providing location information corresponding to the geographiclocation of the portable devices.

[0127] In accordance with one preferred embodiment, users carrying suchportable communication devices within (or suitably near) the firstshopping are may access information provided by content provider 12 overthe network 18, for example, by accessing a web site operated by contentprovider 12 over the Internet. Content may then be provided to the user,based on the geographic location of the user's portable communicationdevice, in accordance with any of the above-described processes. Forexample, in accordance with processes as described above with respect toFIGS. 5 and 6, the user may communicate the user's location informationto the provider processor. Alternatively, processes and systems inaccordance with FIGS. 7-9 may be used to control access of particularcontent to users in areas associated with the particular content. Theprovider processor may then control access to information based on theuser's location, such that user's located in the first shopping area areprovided with information, such as advertisement, promotional or evenvideo clips of theater productions or showings, associated with thestores, restaurants, theaters or other establishments in the firstshopping area.

[0128] Thus, similar to the FIG. 10 embodiment, people within the firstshopping area (in this case, the users of portable communication deviceswithin the first shopping area) may be provided access to advertisementor promotional information from establishments such as the bakery 134 orhobby store 136 located in the first shopping area. On the other hand,users of portable communications devices outside of the first shoppingarea would not be provided access to such content. However, if thoseusers where located in a second shopping area, they may be provided withcontent associated with business establishments located in the secondshopping area.

[0129] In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the providerprocessor is programmed to keep track of the number of recipientprocessors (for example, portable communication devices) that arelocated in each shopping area and accessing the above-noted web site,based on location information received from user processors inconnection with the above-described content control processes. Thus, forexample, as user's logged onto the web site communicate locationinformation, the web site operator may maintain a count of usersaccessing the web site from a given region (or each of a plurality givenregions). In this manner, the operator of the web site may charge feesto advertisers (such as the bakery 134 or hobby store 136), where theamount of the fees is based on the number of users located in theshopping area and accessing the web site content for that shopping areaover a period of time (such as each day, week or month). Alternativelyor in addition, the web site owner may use the collected informationregarding the number of users and the times at which the users werepresent in the shopping area and on the web site, to provide advertiserswith reports from which statistical information about user behavior maybe derived.

[0130] In addition, the provider processor may control the communicationof certain content at a particular time, depending upon the number ofuser's in the area accessing the web site at that particular time. Thus,for example, an advertiser may not want to pay for the display of an adon the web site, unless a specified minimum number of users are locatedin the shopping area and are accessing the web site. Accordingly, theprovider processor may be controlled to display or otherwise provideaccess to certain advertisement, promotional or other forms ofinformation on the web site, only upon the provider processordetermining that a specified minimum number of recipient processors arelocated within the defined region and are accessing the web site. In yetfurther embodiments, the provider processor may be further controlled bya routine which changes that minimum number at different times of theday, days of the week, weeks of the year or other suitable periods.Thus, for example, the minimum number may be greater during expectedpeak shopping times or during periods in which the advertising fees arehigher than other periods.

[0131] Thus, embodiments of the present invention can be utilized tooptimize advertising for local or near-local merchants or businessmen.Indeed, the ability to present advertising, promotional or informationalcontent to a user that is pertinent to the user's physical locationand/or pertinent to events associated with the manufacturing, productionor inventory can be beneficial to both the user and the advertiser.

[0132] In one embodiment, a user accessing a continuous stream ofcontent, such as viewing a movie, show, television program, video game,radio or other transmission, by conventional means or over the Internetor another wide area network, is introduced to advertising before,during or after such. For example, the primary content program, forexample, the movie or video game, is segmented into time frames suchthat breaks occur in the viewing or playing of the primary program.Commercials or advertisements are introduced during each break betweensegments. The primary content program provides motivation or enticementfor the user to access the web site or other communication channel toreceive the primary content with the one or more interleaved breaks.However, unlike current advertising modalities, but in accordance withembodiments of the invention, the selection of the commercial,promotional or informational content to include in the interleavedbreak(s) may be determined, in whole or part, by the physical locationof the user. Such embodiments may employ any of the above-describedembodiments for controlling content based on the geographic location ofthe user (recipient processor), to control the communication ofcommercial or advertisement content to the user (recipient processor)during the interleaved breaks in the primary content.

[0133] In one example, the primary content is selected by the user, forexample, employing a web site system and process as described above. Ina further example, the primary content is made available andcommunicated (for example, streamed) from the web site at a pre-definedor scheduled time, for immediate playing (viewing) by any user orrecipient device accessing the web site during pre-defined or scheduledthe time at which the primary content is communicated (streamed).However, instead of (or in addition to) controlling the user's access tothe primary content, this embodiment controls the version or selectionof content received by the user (recipient processor) during one or moreof the interleaved breaks in the primary content. Thus, users within afirst and second shopping areas may each request and/or receive the sameprimary content, a user in the first shopping area will receive firstadvertisement, promotional or informational content during one or moreinterleaved breaks in the primary content, while a user in the secondshopping area will receive second advertisement, promotional orinformational content during the one or more interleaved breaks in theprimary content. The first advertisement, promotional or informationalcontent may pertain to establishments located in the first shoppingarea, while the second advertisement, promotional or information contentpertains to establishments located in the second shopping area.

[0134] In example embodiments, the provider processor maintains alisting or inventory of advertisements and the physical locations towhich the advertisements are relevant. For instance, an advertisementfor a local bakery 134 in a first shopping area may not relevant to aperson who resides hundreds of miles away from the actual location ofthat bakery. In contrast, an advertiser, such as Nabisco or Sarah Lee,which has hundreds of bakery stores or distributors throughout the worldcould be relevant for any user. In some embodiments, at least some ofthe inventory (advertisements) are associated with a set of criteria bywhich the advertisement must be presented. For instance, some governingcriteria could include one or more time frames (period of time in a day,days in a week, or the like) for presentation of the particularadvertisement, the number of presentations within a particular timeframe, the geographical restrictions of presentation, and the like.Additionally, the number of persons viewing a particular contentpresentation at a particular time in a particularly defined geographiclocation could be parameters for the choice of the type of advertisementdisplayed and the cost of providing such advertising exposure.

[0135] Thus, for example, employing embodiments of the presentinvention, a web site operator may provide a web site on a wide areanetwork, such as the Internet. Users, such as potential shopper's mayaccess the web site over the Internet, using portable communicationdevices (as described above). While fixed-location computers may alsoaccess the web site, additional benefit is available with the use ofportable communication devices, in that the web site content will changeas the portable communication device is transported from region toregion, as described below.

[0136] In one embodiment, the web site provides entertainment content asthe primary content, such as, but not limited to movies, video clips,video games, music, or the like, or information of interest to users,such as, but not limited to stock or other investment prices, weatherinformation, news, traffic information or the like. One or moreinterleaved breaks in the primary content are provided for displayingadvertisement, promotional or informational content as described above.The entertainment or information of interest content is intended to drawuser's to the web site. In some embodiments, the user's may be charged afee to access the web site, in accordance with well known processes ofobtaining fees from on-line users. However other embodiments may providefree access to users, to entice users to access and stay on the site. Ineither case, advertisers may be charged fees for displayingadvertisements during one or more interleaved breaks in the primarycontent.

[0137] When a user in a first region, such as a first shopping area,accesses the web site through a portable communication device, theadvertisements or commercials to which the user is provided during oneor more interleaved breaks are associated with the first region, such asadvertisement information or links to advertisement information for atleast one, and preferably a plurality, of the stores, restaurants,theaters or other establishments located in or near the first region. Onthe other hand, when the user transports the portable communicationdevice to a second region, such as a second shopping area, and accessesthe web site, the primary content remains the same, but theadvertisements or commercials to which the user is provided during oneor more interleaved breaks are advertisements or commercials associatedwith the second region (and not the first region), such as advertisementinformation or links to advertisement information for at least one, andpreferably a plurality, of the stores, restaurants, theaters or otherestablishments located in or near the second region.

[0138] While examples described above employ a large display device 122and 128 located in a shopping area (such as part of a theater marquee orother noticeable location) or portable recipient processor devicescarried by users in a shopping area, other embodiments may operate inother suitable geographic regions. Examples of other geographic regionsin which a large display device 122 and 128 and/or portable user devicesmay be employed in accordance with embodiments described herein include,but are not limited to, sports stadiums, concert facilities, amusementparks, shopping malls, individual commercial establishments, educationalfacilities or campuses, office buildings or business campuses, or thelike, where the advertisement, promotional or information contentrelates to establishments located in or near the facility or campus. Inone embodiment, the display devices 122 and 128 comprise the displayscreens or the like employed to display the primary movie or show beingshown at a theater, wherein the movie or show content is communicated tothe theater (recipient processor at the theater) employing geographiccontrol, as described above, to associate the content with therespective theater. Thus, content to multiple theaters may be controlledfrom a provider processor, such that a first content is communicated fordisplay at a first theater based on the location of the first theaterand second content is communicated for display at a second theater basedon the location of the second theater.

[0139] In a further example embodiment, the large electronic displaydevices 122 and 128, as well as additional electronic display devices,are located adjacent selected roadside or highway locations (such asnear the approach to a highway or freeway off-ramp). In such anembodiment, content communicated to the recipient processors associatedwith the electronic display devices 122 and 128 is controlled, such thatcontent displayed by device 122 is advertisement, promotional orinformational material relating to establishments near the roadside orhighway location of the display device 122 (such as establishmentsaccessible from an off-ramp following the display device 122), whilecontent displayed by device 128 is advertisement, promotional orinformational material relating to establishments near the roadside orhighway location of the display device 128 (such as establishmentsaccessible from an off-ramp following the display device 128).

[0140] Various approaches described herein of communicating geographicinformation and/or content (including encrypted or un-encryptedembodiments) and controlling the access to content, dependent upon thegeographic location, may be employed in accordance with this embodimentof the invention. For example, content associated with a plurality ofregions may be provided to all user's that access the web site, but thecontent may be encrypted, tagged or provided with shell or wrappersoftware as described above (for example, with respect to FIGS. 8 and 9and related embodiments), such that only user's located in a firstregion will be able to access (decrypt, or otherwise process) thecontent associated with the first region and not the content associatedwith another region. On the other hand, a user located in the otherregion would be able to access (decrypt or otherwise process) contentassociated with that other region and not the content associated withthe first region.

[0141] In other embodiments, access may be controlled in accordance witha procedure in which the user communicates its location information tothe web site provider, such that the provider may make accessdeterminations (for example as described in accordance with the FIGS. 5and 6 and related embodiments). For example, to determine whichcommercial should be presented to the user, the content providercomputer (for example, the computer carrying the movie), may receivelocation information from the user computer, review the advertisinginventory, and the criteria by which the commercial must be presented.Based upon the physical location of the user and the criteria of theavailable commercials in the inventory, the provider computer presents acommercial to the user.

[0142] In some embodiments, further restrictions could be placed uponthe choice of the presentation of the commercial by the user. Forinstance, a user may decide that he only desires to view automobilecommercials, or restaurant commercials during a particular program. Inthese instances, the content provider computer would further restrictthe choice of advertisements to the user based upon the user'sparameters. User preferences may be obtained in advance, stored by thecontent provider and retrieved for example, by associating preferenceinformation with a user code (where the user code may be communicatedfrom the user to the provider computer, for example, according toprocedures as described above). Alternatively, user preferenceinformation may be entered by the user, upon beginning a communicationtransaction on the web site and stored by the provider computer duringthe transaction, for controlling communications between the provider anduser during that transaction.

[0143] It is to be understood that the provider computer need notprovide both the primary program (the entertainment or interestinginformation content) and the commercials or advertisement content.Indeed, in some embodiments, a programming coordinator computer is usedto facilitate the joining of the user with the primary programming andseparately provides the advertisements from a separate source, orsources. In this instance, the coordinator serves as a single portalthrough which the commercials can be selected, thereby reducing thenumber of primary programming facilities that the advertisers arerequired to contact for distribution of their advertisements. Similar tothe content provider computer, the coordinator maintains an inventory ofavailable advertisements with all relevant criteria for displaying andpresenting the advertisements. It is to be understood that not only theuser, but the content provider or both could be mobile, for example, ina an automobile, plane, boat, etc. In some preferred embodiments,locally applicable advertisements comprise coupons or similar types ofsales incentives. For example, once the location of a site visitor orcontent consumer is ascertained one or more coupons for use in localbusinesses could be generated.

[0144] As described above, the content provider (or coordinator) maycharge fees to advertisers and/or users. In one embodiment, as describedabove, the fees charged to advertisers is dependent upon the number ofusers detected by the content provider (or coordinator) that accessedthe web site and were located within the particular region of theadvertiser (as determined from geographic information communicated fromeach user to the content provider or coordinator).

[0145] Also as described above, the display of an advertiser'sadvertisement content may be controlled so as to occur only when asuitable number of on-line users are determined to be within theadvertiser's area. In one embodiment, the web site operator may provideon-line access to information regarding the number of users withinparticular geographic areas at particular times or within certain timeperiods. In this manner, advertiser may access the web site (for examplevia computer 138 or 140 in FIG. 10) and determine when are appropriatetimes (or time periods in which) to display the advertiser'sadvertisement content. In this manner an advertiser can put in a “buy”order when a certain number of consumers are on-line viewing the contentin a given location at a given time (or time period). The advertiser mayplace a standing “buy” order by establishing a minimum threshold, suchthat, when the threshold number of on-line users in a given location ata given time (or time period) is reached the appropriate advertisementis served up in association with the other content to those persons inthe proper location.

[0146] Systems or processes examples may be described herein withreference to Internet applications. However, further embodimentsemploying such systems or processes have a wide variety of usefulapplications in connection with other communication systems. Consider,for example, satellite communications systems in which an informationsignal (such as, but not limited to, a television signal) is transmittedfrom a satellite to a plurality of receiver processors located inmultiple geographic regions. According to one embodiment of the presentinvention, the transmitted information signal will be locked out from(unaccessible to) receiver processors that are in restricted geographicregions or that are not in an acceptable geographic region.

[0147] In one preferred embodiment, the information provider comprises asubscription satellite television signal provider and the recipient orreceiver processors comprise satellite television receivers located atuser (subscriber) locations. The positioning system (preferably a GPS),as well as the processor and software for performing steps as describedabove, are located with the user's (or subscriber's) satellite signalreceiver or processing electronics. In this manner, the receipt and/orprocessing (such as, but not limited to, decrypting or decoding) of thetelevision signal may be inhibited or restricted, unless GPS locationdata corresponds to predefined or expected location.

[0148] The provider may program or store the predefined or expectedlocation in the receiver-side processor and associated memory, forexample, when the provider issues the receiver equipment to the user(subscriber) or installs the receiver equipment at the user's(subscriber's) location. Alternatively, the provider may includeinformation in the transmitted signal, representing the expected orpredefined location of the receiver-side processor. Such predefined orexpected location information (whether pre-programmed, pre-stored orreceived with the transmitted signal) is fed to the receiver-sideprocessor. In addition, actual location information, such as GPS datafrom the GPS associated with the user (subscriber), is fed to thereceiver-side processor, for example, when receiver is activated (or aparticular television channel or program is selected by the user) toreceive a content signal. If the actual location information matches thepredefined or expected location, then access to the information(television signal) is allowed. Alternatively, or in addition, thecontent signal may be encoded according to an encoding scheme which canbe decoded by a decoding scheme that requires proper GPS data as part ofthe decoding algorithm or as a decoding key or simply to allow access tothe decoding algorithm or key.

[0149] Also while some of the above embodiments are described asemploying the software 26 to operate with the user devices, otherembodiments may employ positioning systems 20-22 having processing meanscapable of processing the software 26-28 and performing the functionsdescribed above with respect to the user devices or recipient processors14-16, such that some or all of the location, time and requestgeneration functions are performed by the systems 20-22. In suchembodiments, the provider may issue (lend, lease or sell) andperiodically (or otherwise successively) monitor such processing systemsto customers (users) and may, thereby better guard against fraudulentuse of the equipment.

[0150] Distribution Based On Location Of Provider

[0151] While embodiments described above are primarily concerned withemploying user (or recipient) location information to control access toinformation, other embodiments may employ provider location informationto control access to information in a similar manner. In suchembodiments, the provider processor 12 is associated with a positioningsystem (such as a GPS) for providing location information representingthe geographic location of the provider. Such information is transmittedover the communications network to the recipient processor(s), forexample during a handshaking exchange or in conjunction with thetransmission of content information. The recipient processor would, thenbe controlled, for example, according to processes described above, todetermine whether the provider processor location informationcorresponds to an expected (or pre-defined or pre-stored) location. Ifnot, then the recipient processor may ignore or deny user access to theinformation. If the provider processor location information doescorrespond to an expected location, then the recipient process would becontrolled to allow processing and/or user access to further informationreceived from the provider. In this manner, provider authentication maybe accomplished, using the provider location information (such as GPSdata) to verify the authenticity of the provider information.

[0152] In other embodiments, the expected location may be establishedfrom the initial handshaking process or the like at the beginning of acommunication transaction, whereby further communications between theprovider processor and the recipient processor during the transactionmay be directed, based on the geographic location information to beaccessible to the provider and recipient processors located at thelocations specified during the handshaking process. In yet furtherpreferred embodiments, the provider and recipient processors eachcommunicate location information to the other (or the expected locationof the other is known in advance by each). In this manner,communications in both directions between the recipient processor andthe provider processor may be controlled to be directed to the specificrecipient and provider processors located in the expected location.Furthermore, plural recipient processors and/or provider processors maycommunicate with each other in such a directed fashion, so as to form asub-network or private network defined by processor locations.

[0153] In addition to providing processor-location dependentsub-networks, further embodiments of systems or processes in whichnetwork communications are controlled, dependent on the location of theprovider processor include systems or processes for verifying oridentifying the source and/or veracity of the content received from thesource. For example, in one embodiment, a positioning system asdescribed above (for example, but not limited to, a GPS) is coupled inclose proximity to a content provider processor 12 to supply theprocessor 12 with location information.

[0154] In response to a request for content from a recipient processor,the provider processor 12 is controlled by suitable software to providesuch location information (such as GPS information) as part of or inassociation with the transmission of content to a recipient processor.The location information may be in the form of a tag or label providedwith the requested content. Alternatively, the location information maybe communicated as separate information with respect to the requestedcontent.

[0155] The recipient computer is, then, controlled by suitable softwareto obtain the location information transmitted from the providerprocessor and determine from the location information whether toprovide, deny or otherwise limit access to the content by the user.Access may be denied or limited by denying certain processing stepsnecessary for the recipient processor to display the content to the useror by modifying the content in some manner, for example, to censor thecontent. Alternatively, or in addition, the denial or limiting proceduremay involve displaying a warning or other message to the user.

[0156] For example, if the geographic location of the provider processorof offensive or otherwise sensitive web sites are known in advance, arecipient processor may be controlled, for example, to deny or limituser access to some or all of the content otherwise available on thoseweb sites, for example, to keep children from accessing such web sitecontent. Also, if content providers are required to tag or label some orall of the content available on their web sites, then tracking of thesource of illegal, illegitimate, or other content can be simplified.Thus, one aspect of the invention involves the implementation of acommunication standard, in which geographic location information (forexample, but not limited to GPS information) corresponding to thelocation of the source of a communication is included with eachcommunication (for example, at least once in each communicationtransaction or as part of each data packet) over a network, such as theInternet. Such location information may be used to control access toinformation as described above, to form directed sub-networks asdescribed above, and/or to verify the authenticity or otherwise identifythe source of the communication. The source identification function maybe a strong deterrent to unscrupulous network users that may otherwisedistribute unauthorized copies of copyrighted materials, pornographicmaterials, or other content having illegal, immoral, unpopular politicalor other undesirable qualities. The source identification function wouldalso serve to help deter fraudulent sales, purchase offers, auctionbids, by requiring the seller, auctioneer of goods or services,purchaser, auction bidder or the like to include location informationwith a communication of, for example, a purchase order or offer, or thecommunication of an offer to sell or auction a product or service.

[0157] Thus, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,an on-line auction or sales agent service may accept requests fromon-line users to place certain goods or services of the user for sale orauction. To protect a subsequent purchaser of such goods or services,the auction or sales agent would also require the on-line user to submitlocation information, for example, but not limited to, GPS informationas described above. Time information may also be provided by the on-lineuser and used by the auction or sales agent service to verify theauthenticity of the location information, as described above. Theauction or sales agent service would then be able to store the locationinformation and/or provide such information to a subsequent purchaser,in the event that the seller attempts to defraud the purchaser, forexample, by collecting the purchasers money without sending thepurchased goods or services or by sending defective or otherwiseundesirable goods or services. In a similar manner, the auction or salesagent may obtain and record location information and/or time informationreceived from an on-line purchaser, for example, as part of (or inassociation with) a communication of a purchase request, offer or bid.Such information may then be used to help identify fraudulentpurchasers.

[0158] As is readily apparent from the foregoing description,embodiments of the invention relating to the control of distribution ofinformation on a wide area network, dependent on the location of therecipient processor, the location of the provider processor or thelocation of both the provider and recipient processors, have a widerange of useful applications. In addition to the applications discussedabove, other applications include controlling the prohibition orallowance, in whole or in part of professional services to a user basedon user location or future anticipated location, including, but notlimited to, such services as medical treatment or other medical services(EMR, psychological counseling, chiropractic services), legal services,accounting services, etc. which require the services of a practitionerthat is licensed or otherwise certified by a regional authority.

[0159] Other examples include controlling the prohibition or allowance,in whole or in part, of dating, matchmaking, or other social and/orbusiness introductory services to a user, a provider or both based ontheir respective location(s) or future anticipated location(s), or byauthentication of location. For example, transmission of informationabout someone, such as visual data or data for additional contact, likea physical meeting, might be denied a user until the user's location isverified. Such systems or processes may incorporate a comparison toprior electronic communications component for verification that theperson has been consistent and truthful. For example, two persons havebeen corresponding on an online dating service. One of the personspreviously said in E-mail #28 that he was in Seattle. His GPS.coordinates for his computers reveal that no message ever came fromSeattle. The woman corresponding may not want to physically meet thisperson until the discrepancy is explained.

[0160] Yet further example embodiments may be employed in systems forcontrolling the transmission of content, such as sexual material,tobacco or liquor advertising, wagering or gaming data, etc., orservices relating thereto (“Adult Content”) to a person withoutrequiring any representation of age made by the person because thelocation is known to be a location where the person could not be unlessthe person was an adult, e.g, the location corresponds to a bar, acasino, a gentleman's club, an adult book store, etc. Similarly, suchsystems or processes may prohibit the transmission of content orservices based upon the location being a known school, library, churchor other place where Adult Content dissemination would be inappropriatebecause of the potential presence of minors.

[0161] Additional examples include the prohibition or allowance oftransmission, in whole or in part, of entertainment, such as moviepremiers, limited engagement content, concerts, plays, sporting or otherevents to a user based on location. This would be a local black-outenabling technology. This would also work for election resultsavailability on election day when polls are closed in one part of thecountry and open in another (only practical if the First Amendmentissues could be resolved).

[0162] Also, while a number of determinations are described above asbeing accomplished by comparing a value (product identification,location information, region information, user computer id, userlocation) to a table or list of such values, other embodiments mayemploy suitable algorithm-based schemes for rendering thedeterminations.

[0163] Further embodiments may employ additional features, such as meansfor the provider computer to compare the location information receivedfrom the requesting computer with other location information obtainedfrom the user, such as, but not limited to, billing address informationassociated with credit card numbers provided by the user, pre-storedaddress information (for example, stored in storage means 13 oravailable to the server from other on-line sources, not shown) which isexpected to correspond to a particular user, or the like. If thelocation information does not correspond to the address information,access to the requested product or service may be denied or limited.

[0164] Other uses of location information transmitted by a user computerover the Internet may include, for example, uses associated withdetecting stolen or contraband computers. For example, user computerswhich operate with satellite-signal positioning systems as describedabove may be programmed to transmit location information to apredetermined address when connected to the Internet such that, in theevent the computer is stolen, the computer's location may be tracked.The location information may also be used to track the location ofillegal subscribers of Internet connection services.

[0165] A further embodiment of the system and method involvinggeographic location information obtained from a suitable positioningsystem as described above (including, but not limited to GPS) relates tocorrelating or associating image data generated by an imaging devicewith location information corresponding to the location of the imagesensing device. For example, with respect to FIG. 12, an image sensingdevice 160 (such as a digital camera, video camera, CCD device, CIDdevice or the like) produces a digital signal 162 representative of asensed image or an object 164. Digital image data from the device 160 isprovided to a processor 166. A positioning system 168 as described above(for example, but not limited to, GPS) within the proximity of theimaging device 160 is also coupled to the processor, to provide locationinformation to the processor.

[0166] Under the control of the processor, the positioning system 168provides location information corresponding to an image recorded by thedevice 160. For example, the processor may retrieve location informationfrom the positioning system, in response to (or at the time that) theimaging device is operated to record an image. The processor 166 may becontrolled to store location information with the associated imageinformation (or otherwise correlated with the associated imageinformation) at a local memory device 170 (such as, but not limited to,a hard, floppy, optical, magneto-optical disc or other suitable storagedevice).

[0167] For example, the image data for an image A may be stored in afile 172 in memory 170. The same file or an associated file may containlocation information corresponding to the image A. Similarly, an image Bmay be stored in a second file 174 in memory 170, with (or inassociation with another file containing) location data corresponding toimage B. In a further embodiment, the processor 166 may be coupledthrough a network (such as the Internet) to a second processor 176having an associated memory device 178, such that the processor 166 maycommunicate image and/or location information to the second processor176 for storage on the memory device 178.

[0168] In the above example, the location information corresponds to thelocation of the imaging device 160 (by virtue of the positioning system168 being located in the vicinity of the imaging device 160, preferablywithin the same housing). In other embodiments, the location informationmay be more closely correlated to the location of the object 164 beingimaged. This may be accomplished by determining the focal point of theimaging device at the time the image is made (for example, by employingposition sensing or focus-finding electronics included in the imagingdevice as part of an automatic focusing system). Alternatively, or inaddition, other means for determining the location of the object 164relative to the device 160 and combining that information with thelocation of the device 160 as determined by the positioning system 168,may be employed. For example, a user input device may be employed forallowing a user to input a measured or estimated distance between theobject 164 and the device 160.

[0169] Systems and processes for associating location information withrecorded image information may be employed, for example, to make imagesof crime scene evidence, with electronic recordation of the location ofeach imaged piece of evidence. Similarly, the system or process may beused for electronic recordation of the location of artifacts byrecording image of an archeological site. Images may be made ofstructures, such as buildings, ships, airships or the like, duringmanufacture (such as the framework of a building under construction), soas to identify and record the location of beams, pipes, studs or otherphysical items or structures that will later be sealed within thecompleted walls of the building, ship or the like. Many otherapplications of use of such image-location information are also withinthe scope of the present invention.

[0170] Further improvements of the above-described GPS embodiments mayinclude memory devices associated with the GPS device, to store thelast-known position of the GPS device. In this manner, if the GPS signalis not obtainable, the GPS device may then retrieve the pre-recordedlocation information and use that information as location information.Preferably, the recorded GPS information is provided with an expirationtime, such that the pre-recorded information may only be used as validposition information for a defined period following acquisition orrecording of the information.

[0171] The embodiments disclosed herein are to be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive of the invention. The scopeof the invention is indicated by the appended claims, rather than theforegoing description. All changes that come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling the distribution ofinformation from an information provider processor to a plurality ofrecipient processors on a communications network, based on thegeographic locations of the recipient processors the method comprising:associating a respective positioning system with each respectiverecipient processor; receiving location information from the positioningsystem associated with a given recipient processor, the locationinformation corresponding to the general geographic location of thegiven recipient processor; determining, from the location information,whether the geographic location of the given recipient processor iswithin a predefined location or region; requiring additional informationbefore providing the given recipient processor with access to firstinformation in the event that the given recipient processor isdetermined to be within the predefined location or region.
 2. A methodas recited in claim 1, wherein requiring additional informationcomprises communicating a query to from the provider processor to thegiven recipient processor for the additional information.
 3. A method asrecited in claim 1, wherein requiring additional information comprisesuser age information.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein theadditional information comprises payment information.
 5. A method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the additional information comprises a userindication that a waiver, license or disclaimer is accepted.
 6. A methodas recited in claim 1, wherein the additional information comprisescurrent time information.
 7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein theadditional information comprises user identification information.
 8. Amethod as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving location informationcomprises receiving location information over the network by theprovider processor and determining comprises determining, by theprovider processor, whether the geographic location of the givenrecipient processor is within a predefined location or region.
 9. Amethod as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving location informationcomprises receiving location information by the given recipientprocessor and determining comprises determining, by the given recipientprocessor, whether the geographic location of the given recipientprocessor is within a predefined location or region.
 10. A method forcontrolling the distribution of displayable content to aplurality ofrecipient processors, including first and second recipient processors,on a communications network, the method comprising: associating arespective positioning system with each respective recipient processor;associating a large format, electronic display device with eachrespective recipient processor; locating each display device in alocation viewable from an area in which a large number of people areexpected to inhabit or pass; communicating first displayable contentover the network to the first recipient processor and communicatingsecond displayable content over the network to the second recipientprocessor, the first displayable content corresponding to businessestablishments in the vicinity of the display device associated with thefirst recipient processor and the second displayable contentcorresponding to business establishments in the vicinity of the displaydevice associated with the second recipient processor, wherein the firstdisplayable content is different from the second displayable content.11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein communicating first andsecond displayable content comprises: receiving location informationfrom the positioning system associated with the first recipientprocessor, the location information corresponding to the generalgeographic location of the first recipient processor; receiving locationinformation from the positioning system associated with the secondrecipient processor, the location information corresponding to thegeneral geographic location of the second recipient processor;associating the geographic location of the first recipient processorwith first content and the geographic location of the second processorwith second content; and communicating the associated first and secondcontent to the respective first and second recipient processors.
 12. Amethod as recited in claim 10, wherein locating each display devicecomprises locating the display device associated with the firstrecipient processor adjacent a theater entrance and wherein the firstdisplayable content includes information relating to productions orshows scheduled for a showing in the theater.
 13. A method as recited inclaim 12, wherein the first displayable content further includesadvertisement information relating to a business establishment near thetheater.
 14. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein locating eachdisplay device comprises locating the display device associated with thefirst recipient processor adjacent a theater entrance and wherein thefirst displayable content includes a clip of a portion of a productionor show scheduled for a showing in the theater.
 15. A method as recitedin claim 10, wherein locating each display device comprises locating thedisplay device associated with the first recipient processor adjacent aroad or highway and wherein the first displayable content includesinformation relating to business establishments near the road or highwaylocation of the display device associated with the first recipientprocessor.
 16. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein locating eachdisplay device comprises locating the display device associated with thefirst recipient processor adjacent a highway or freeway off-ramp andwherein the first displayable content includes information relating tobusiness establishments accessible from that highway or freewayoff-ramp.
 17. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprisingproviding an advertiser interface for allowing advertisers in thevicinity of the area in which the display device associated with thefirst recipient processor is located to enter or modify content forinclusion in the first displayable content, and allowing advertisers inthe vicinity of the area in which the display device associated with thesecond recipient processor is located to enter or modify content forinclusion in the second displayable content.
 18. A method as recited inclaim 17, wherein the advertiser interface comprises a web site.